The subcommittee created by the Agricultural Affairs Committee of the National Assembly will evaluate the possibility of restricting onion imports during the harvest period in Panama.
A press release stated that the subcommittee would discuss bill No.72 to evaluate the onion imports without affecting the international agreements maintained with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA).
Dana Castañeda, the proponent of this bill, said onion producers needed urgent actions for the marketing of their product, as they couldn’t harvest their production due to the oversupply of this item because of the competition from imported onions.
The consultations on this issue will start next Monday, September 29th and will include the participation of onion growers. The debate will be in charge of the deputies Felipe Vargas (president), Carlos Motta and Alfredo Perez, said Juan Serrano, president of the Agricultural Affairs Committee.
Jorge Arango, Minister of Agricultural Development, and Edwin Cardenas, director of the Institute of Agricultural Marketing, announced that the Government would purchase Panama’s onion production to ensure the marketing of this product.
Arango added that they were also seeking to provide adequate marketing for potatoes and other products that are part of the Panamanian family food basket.
Source: prensa.com